Liverpool FC Forum

[Sabre]

Rafa's made some good points in his rant, but it should of been done in private.
If he's got a problem with Parry, he should speak to the new owners, not to a journalist. It does the club no good to air our dirty laundry in public.

I agree this.

I'd understand the rant if the time passed and the promissed financial support of the americans didn't come, but it came just too early for my taste.

[parchpea]

I am personally pleased that at last someone has come out and said what needed to be said. Fair play to Rafa.

He is not completely blameless ofcourse, but the way our transfer dealings have dragged out has been embarrasing.

For too long we as supporters have had to feed off whispers and speculation about the goings on behind the walls of Anfield, but now have Rafas heartfelt outburst and the new owners being interviewed on TV when I havent seen Moores or previous owners in a lifetime! Very refreshing.

I think we seem to moving in the right direction at last. No more BS but honset assestments and dealing with situations head on.

[NiftyNeil]

I am personally pleased that at last someone has come out and said what needed to be said. Fair play to Rafa.

It did need saying, but it's not the Liverpool way to say it in public though.

[redtrader74]

If there is ever a time for this to be public, it is now when we have new owners, Rafa is obviously fed up with people in the press questioning his transfer and league winning ability when he feels that we don't know the whole story. He has also told us what we wanted to hear from him and has put some pressure on himself should he be backed.

[Dundalk]

Just found this...

Opportunities arise yet we failed to capitalise it. Shame. I agree on what most of you have been saying that the final itself is a reflection of Liverpool's league campaign where we time and again, failed to kill of games while we could and then let it slipped by.

21 points behind league leaders isn't a good sign and judging from Rafa's recent outburst, he himself know that we need to keep improving and the season that has just ended was a very disappointing one.

Have we been treading water this season? I think yes, to an extent.

Yet time is against us. It's been 19 long years since the last league title and many fans are growing impatient. Fans of my generations are yet to see the glory and therefore are more forgiving but for those who've been with the team through the 70s and 80s, they'll definitely feel the disappointments.

We have had 2 major cups in Rafa's 3 seasons in charge and to me, he has done a wonderful job thus far. With limited resources, he did his best it really made us believe.

But many of us will tend to agree with Rafa on the current situation that is we need to invest big money from now on and stop settling for the second or third best.

I believe that the upcoming summer will be a make or break period for the club. It'll either take us to a new direction or another walk round the so called 'promise land'.

The American owner's arrival at the club signals a new era in Liverpool FC's glorious history yet what we really want to see is instant impact and how, together with Rafa, will steer this wayward ship in the right direction, or some might argue, to 'fine tune' it because we're on the right track.

Big money will be splashed on players and maybe, we do not need to settle for the Pennants or Josemis anymore.

With talks surround the likes of Eto'o, Villa and Torres, I urge you fans to drop the thinking that we're playing Football Manager and move your back on the ground where reality hits. We might attempt to get them but I personally feel they are out of our range.

According to reliable sources, the top 3 names in Rafa's 'wanted' list are Gabriel Milito from Real Zaragoza, Simao from Benfica and last but not least, Darren Bent from the recently relegated Charlton.

So you can see the difference between what we want and what Rafa thinks we really need. After all, he knows what the team needs best and also, the players that suit his style and shares the same ideology.

But leave the speculations alone, we're talking about seizing the moment. We need to act fast, like what Rafa previously said. We can no longer sit around and wait anymore. With Chelsea sniffing around for anyone who has the ability to kick a football and Barcelona using their charms to seduce players, Liverpool needs to act faster like how they got Lucas from Gremio despite several other Italian clubs in the queue.

Like the Champions League final where it looked as if Mr. Benitez has a remote control on his hands, we missed the glorious chances and missed the opportunities presented to us. Just off my head, I could think of ManYoo (home), Newcastle (Away) and Fulham(Away) where we did everything but finish the game off. And that is just a few of the examples.

So I'll have to agree with Rafa and I understand his frustration with the way things have been going. We can no longer tarry and thinks that players will have Liverpool as their first choice anymore.

Time has moved on and we 'board the train' fast. We've already made the first move by letting investors into the club, not it's time to begin the second phase of 'Rafalution'.

And hey, even ladies now takes the initiative to hook up with guys, so should we. Go out and be aggressive in the market. No time to be nice anymore. Roll on the summer!

[The Manhattan Project]

the lion sick but not dieeeeee   

Ah wimba waa, ah wimba waa, ah wimba waa...in the jungle the mighty jungle......

[ConnO'var]

Rafa's made some good points in his rant, but it should of been done in private.
If he's got a problem with Parry, he should speak to the new owners, not to a journalist. It does the club no good to air our dirty laundry in public.

Exactly right...... It's not the Liverpool way.... While I agree with his points (the rumours of Parry's dealings have been circulating among fans for years now), we should never air things like this in public.....

Surely there's a better forum?.... Rafa can always relay his misgivings directly to the new owners.... Or is Rafa getting ready an excuse for next season should we mess up the league challenge again?

[ConnO'var]

rafa's right to be annoyed....im worried at the fact that he is that annoyed to say things like this publicly....keep rafa happy = priority.

I disagree with you there, mate.....

Keeping Rafa happy is not the priority....... Winning the league is THE priority.

Last time I was at the Anfield gates, I don't recall the emblem at the top of the gate had been changed from Liverpool Football Club to the Xabi Benitez Football club.....

As good as they are, they are employees of the club..... NO ONE is greater than LFC.....

[ConnO'var]

To answer the question "Is Rafa losing patience?"..... I don't know..

What I do know is that we never wash our dirty laundry in public...... if he wasn't misquoted, then it was a shocking outburst.

I'd expect this from NUFC and CFC... but certainly not of us....

[whylongball?]

Liverpool have had enough money over the last few years. Rafa's wasted all the money on Spanish no marks. And no world class players want play there.

Mascherano,Alonso, Agger really bad buys them arent they 

as i read i wanted to say the same thing!

[whylongball?]

I think that's a fair criticism, but debatable. In my view LFC played better in the first half than Milan. But an error of Xabi who should know what the attacking mids seek for, when they reach the box in Spain and Italy, gave them a foul. (Kaka dived, yet, Alonso was too naive there)

Of course if the people assume that what's LFC doing is negative and conservative, then it's normal to criticise not to bring another striker. We brought it in, and they scored, the final was over. So it's all very debatable. But then, that's a fair criticism because nobody knows what would have happened if Crouch entered the game before.

About the Arbeloa incoming to the game, I don't think Rafa brought him in because he thought he'd change the game. It's common knowledge in football than when a player is knackered he's changed, and I think that was the case.

In the part he talks about signing ups figures, I haven't analysed it, I'd like to read other poster's opinions about it, if you're so kind.

i agree a lot with what you been saying in the forum, especially on the tactics. And here i meet you again on Xabi's mistake. Anyway, my thought of him is he was . Apart from his slightly above average passing he offered very little defensively. Still cant believe he could commit such a stupid mistake.
Lots of people rate him highly here but seriously i don't cos CMs have to do more than just pass the ball around.
From what i see SG and Mascherano would be perfect in the centre. And we will need a Aimar-type player

[Scottbot]

I thought Rafa got his tactics spot on, a poor (lucky) goal changed all that. My only criticism is he should have made his changes earlier in the second half. Maybe with hindsight I would have kept Mascherano on and brought off Riise or Alonso as well.

Rafa is a stubborn manager (usually a good thing)but he does seem very reluctant to change things quickly enough when things go wrong.

I haven't watched the game back again (has anyone?) and to be honest i can't really remember much of the 2nd half. I kind of sat there with a feeling of impending doom for much of it but i would pretty much agree with that Saint. We played an excellent first half and dispelled the myth that this is a great Milan side (for me they are not a patch on the 05 version) but it felt like we were always trying to nick a goal in the 2nd half when we probably should have gone for it from the 60 minute mark.

[account deleted by request]

Bascombe article ripped from Rawk

Déjà vu as Benitez lays down the law


In the summer of 2004, Steven Gerrard gave an interview which exposed why the Gerard Houllier regime had run it’s course.

Having been at the end of his tether for the best part of 18 months, disturbed by the lack of progress of his club, he decided in the immediate aftermath of Liverpool’s Champions League qualification enough was enough

“The next few weeks will be the most important in the recent history of this football club” he said

“I will be watching what happens very closely”

Liverpool had just pipped Newcastle to the fourth Champions League spot, and while Houllier was hailing the achievement, the captain was mourning the fact such a routine expectation was now being perceived as worthy.

There was a clear subtext to Gerrard’s comments then, and although he stopped short of demanding a change of manager, this was the inevitable consequence of any revelution.

Had Liverpool not acted, they wouldn’t have avoided their narrow escape when Chelsea made the second of their three summer approaches for Gerrard between 2003-5.

It’s impossible not to be reminded of the agitation and hunger for change Gerrard felt then when Rafa Benitez speaks now.

On Thursday morning he effectively repeated what the captain had said three years ago.

“The club must act now…the next few weeks are crucial…if we don’t do more we can’t compete for the title…etc…”

There are those who argue to dismiss the competency of the entire structure of the club takes the argument to the extreme, but the shambolic organisation of the Athens trip did nothing to help those in the firing line, even if UEFA carry most blame.

In the early hours of the morning, as Benitez pondered what to say at Thursday’s press conference, he was strolling the streets around the team hotel because he had no room to sleep in.

The facilities at the team’s base were described by management and players as shocking.

When Liverpool’s representatives spent a couple of days in Athens after the semi-final, they were promised luxurious bedrooms which turned out to be unavailable when the team arrived.

AC Milan encountered similar problems.

In their Wisdom, UEFA picked a city with just one airport in the same week a major global pharmaceutical conference was held, block booking all the top hotels. Fiasco doesn’t do this organisation justice.

Many players had to move out as soon as they arrived, with Benitez eventually giving up his room completely.

“If we don’t win, there will be bloodshed at this club” someone close to the manager warned on Tuesday evening, making it clear Benitez saw UEFA as partially but not exclusively responsible for the problems.

The zeal for revolution this column reported on last week was evident in Benitez’s comments after the match.

Wednesday night felt like a watershed for Liverpool in Europe. Rather than a climax of an exciting new era, it was the end of one.

From the callous approach of UEFA to the depressing site of a minority of fans pushing down barriers (how do they qualify these actions when they’re wearing yellow justice stickers I may ask?), right through to the inappropriate preparations of UEFA and the club which were frankly embarrassing.

The majority of right minded Liverpool supporters must have made the depressing return feeling wounded by their experience. I know many who wonder why they bother. The idea of the European Cup final is sometimes more exciting that the experience of it.

George Gillett and Tom Hicks have spent six months commenting on their extraordinary purchase, but nothing exposes the cracks more than a cup final defeat.

It’s now up to them to keep their part of the bargain and ensure on and off the pitch Liverpool is run like a club worthy of its stature.

The focus is shifting to them, and it’s their job to shift it back to Benitez.

They’ll do this by investing in the team and then taking care of the other under-funded departments.

If they succeed, it’s then up to Benitez to prove how astute he is in the transfer market.

The loss of chief scout Frank McParland to Bolton is a blow, especially since the jury is out on the track record of Eduardo Macia. His purchases must be up to scratch if the money is there, but he can be sure his dependency on the same Italian agents will be monitored if the signings aren’t good enough.

The loss of Paco Herrera last summer was compared to the departure of Patrice Bergues in 2001 which had a destabilising impact. At the moment, worryingly, that still stands.

Make no mistake, Liverpool head into the closed season a club deeply divided, with talented backroom personnel leaving and many key figures barely on speaking terms. 

If the summer of 2004 was considered one of the clubs most important in recent history, it may look like a picnic in comparison to what may follow.
         ------------------------------------------------------

If there is any truth in this article, its very worrying to say the least.

[Sabre]

THank you for bringing that.

I think there's some pretty hard criticism on Rafa right now. It's a fact that he'll stay next season, because he's rejected a Real Madrid offer, and he has talked to the new owner.

The press, and an important group of the crowd seems to be asking Rafa for the league title challenge now. Rafa has seemingly accepted that challenge and has explained what he needs to face that goal. Next season will be crucial for him, because obviously some sectors of the LFC surrounding are asking for results.

Or so it seems.

[account deleted by request]

THank you for bringing that.

I think there's some pretty hard criticism on Rafa right now. It's a fact that he'll stay next season, because he's rejected a Real Madrid offer, and he has talked to the new owner.

The press, and an important group of the crowd seems to be asking Rafa for the league title challenge now. Rafa has seemingly accepted that challenge and has explained what he needs to face that goal. Next season will be crucial for him, because obviously some sectors of the LFC surrounding are asking for results.

Or so it seems.

I think its more a criticism of Parry than Rafa. Which I presume is one of the reasons that Hicks and Gillette have sent over one of their sons to act as a "go between".

The shambolic organisation etc after the final would be laid at Parry's door not Rafa's. No bedrooms after the final! UNBELIEVABLE!!!